At least 50 Venezuelan men who were sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration had immigrated to the U.S. legally, a review by the Libertarian Cato Institute found.
The Monday report reviewed data for just a fraction of the men sent to the prison for whom immigration records are available.
“The government calls them all ‘illegal aliens.’ But of the 90 cases where the method of crossing is known, 50 men report that they came legally to the United States, with advanced US government permission, at an official border crossing point,” Cato wrote in its report.
That figure is in line with broader statistics for Venezuelan migrants, as many came as refugees or through a parole program established by the Biden administration that provided two years of work permits to those who could secure a U.S.-based sponsor.
“The proportion isn’t what matters the most: the astounding absolute numbers are,” Cato wrote. “Dozens of legal immigrants were stripped of their status and imprisoned in El Salvador.”
The report takes issue with Trump administration claims that it deported immigrants who had illegally entered in the country, when in fact, 21 were allowed into the country after presenting at a port of entry, and 24 were paroled into the country. Four came as refugees, and one initially came on a tourist visa.
Full records for the roughly 200 Venezuelans sent to prison in El Salvador have not been provided by the Trump administration. Cato reviewed the information for 174 of the men for whom some information is publicly available.
While the Trump team has accused several of the men of being involved with gangs, in many cases that accusation appears to be largely based on tattoos.
Several of those tattoos are nods to sports teams or have personal meaning not related to gang affiliation. In the case of one man, Andry José Hernández Romero, the crown tattoos on his arms were a nod to the Three Kings Day celebrations the makeup artist’s hometown in Venezuela is known for.
“At least 42 were labeled as gang members primarily based on their tattoos, which Venezuelan gangs do not use to identify members and are not reliable indicators of gang membership,” Cato wrote.
The records reviewed by Cato also countered administration claims that it was deporting criminals.
Of the men who had immigrated legally, “only two appear to have had a U.S. criminal conviction of any kind, both for minor drug offenses,” the report found.
The report noted that because many were detained immediately before being deported to the Salvadoran prison, “there is no possibility that they demonstrated any gang ties or committed any crimes inside the United States.”
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